Gerhard Sasso

undated modern illustration

Gerhard Sasso (his last name is also given with Tum, Tune, Tunc, Tenque, Tonque or Thom ) (* around 1040 in Martigues or in the Duchy of Amalfi ; † September 3, 1120 in Jerusalem ) was the founder of the Sovereign Knights and Hospitallers of the Holy John in Jerusalem . He can be considered the first Grand Master of the Order of Malta . In the Catholic Church he is venerated as a blessed .

Founder of the Order of St. John

Gerhard probably came from Martigues in Provence , other sources also indicate Scala in the Duchy of Amalfi or Avesnes in Hainaut . At the time of the First Crusade , he had been the head of a fraternity that ran a complex of three churches, two monastery buildings and a hospital in Jerusalem . The building complex ( Muristan ) was founded around 1048 by merchants from Amalfi . The hospital served as a "Xenodochium" (guest house, hostel for foreigners) for the accommodation and nursing of the sick, especially for Christian pilgrims , but Jewish and Muslim sick people and those in need were also accepted. It goes back to Gerhard that the admitted were treated as "the sick gentlemen", to whom the brotherhood had to look after their worldly masters like servants. After the conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099 under Godfrey von Bouillon, the hospital fraternity gained considerable support and achieved independence as an independent church order according to the rules of St. Augustine . This was decreed by the bull Pie postulatio voluntatis to Geraudo institutori ac praeposito Hirosolimitani Xenodochii issued by Pope Paschal II on February 15, 1113 . In 1120, shortly before Gerhard's death, the bull was renewed and confirmed by Pope Kalixt II .

Trivia

Legend has it that during the siege of Jerusalem in 1099, Gérard secretly threw bread to the starving Christian besiegers from the walls of Jerusalem. When this was discovered by the Muslim defenders, they checked Gerhard and behold, the loaves had turned to stone. Nevertheless, he was incarcerated by the defense lawyers. This legend parallels the rose miracle of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia or her great niece, Saint Elizabeth of Portugal . The core of the legend can be seen that Gerhard supported the crusade participants with action and advice in order to restore the freedom of the pilgrims. Based on this legend, Gerhard, such as B. in the chapel of the Grand Master's Office in Rome , depicted with bread and chains.

literature

• Gerhart Ellert : The Johanniter: it began in Jerusalem . Universitas, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-8004-1385-X .
• Pierre d'Avity / Gottfried, Johann Ludwig : Archontologiae Cosmicae Buch III, Frankfurt am Main, 1628, page 31 f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Harot, Eugène: Essai d'armorial des Grands-Maîtres de l'Ordre de Saint Jean de Jérusalem, Collegio Araldico, Rome 1911

Web links

Commons : Frère Gérard (GM 1)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Publications on Gerardo Sasso in the Opac der Regesta Imperii
• http://www.cilialacorte.com/grandmasters/gerard.html
• http://www.smom-za.org/grandmasters/01.htm
• Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem
• History of the Order of Malta ( Memento of December 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive )

predecessor	Office	successor
---	Grand Master of the Order of St. John 1100–1120	Raymond du Puy